Is BKNG a good stock to buy? We came across a bullish thesis on Booking Holdings Inc. on Investomine’s Substack. In this article, we will summarize the bulls’ thesis on BKNG. Booking Holdings Inc.’s share was trading at $4,294.29 as of March 19th. BKNG’s trailing and forward P/E were 25.94 and 16.05 respectively according to Yahoo Finance.
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Booking Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides online and traditional travel and restaurant reservations and related services in the United States and internationally. BKNG closed FY2025 with robust operational momentum, marked by accelerating room night growth, expanding margins, and substantial free cash flow generation, demonstrating resilience despite macro uncertainty in global travel.
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Q4 2025 saw room nights reach 285 million (+9%), gross bookings of $43.0 billion (+16%, +11% constant currency), revenue of $6.3 billion (+16%, +11% constant currency), GAAP net income of $1.4 billion (+34%), adjusted EBITDA of $2.2 billion (+19%), and free cash flow of $1.4 billion (+120%), with margins expanding to 34.6%. Growth was broad-based, with sequential acceleration throughout the year confirming underlying demand strength and stable monetization.
For the full year, room nights totaled 1.235 billion (+8%), gross bookings $186.1 billion (+12%, +10% constant currency), revenue $26.9 billion (+13%, +10% constant currency), adjusted EPS $228.06 (+22%), adjusted EBITDA $9.9 billion (+20%), and free cash flow $9.1 billion (+15%), with adjusted EBITDA margin improving 193 bps to 36.9%. GAAP net income declined due to FX remeasurement losses, impairment charges, and debt accounting impacts, but underlying profitability expanded significantly.
The Transformation Program delivered $550 million in annualized savings, which the company is redeploying into generative AI, direct channel growth, strategic U.S. marketing, and platform enhancements, supporting both top-line durability and margin expansion. Merchant bookings grew nearly 25% while agency bookings declined, reflecting a strategic shift toward higher-control monetization.
Aggressive capital allocation included $6.4 billion in FY2025 buybacks, $10.50 per share dividend (+9.4%), and a 25-for-1 stock split. Strong balance sheet and cash flow generation support continued returns. With 2026 guidance projecting continued growth in revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and EPS, Booking’s scale, direct channel expansion, margin improvement, and AI investment position it as a high-quality, cash-generative platform with compelling long-term upside.
Previously, we covered a bullish thesis on Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) by Jimmy Investor in April 2025, which highlighted the company’s dominant position in online travel, AI-driven personalization, strong profitability, and sustainable free cash flow. BKNG’s stock price has depreciated by approximately 6.10% since our coverage due to softer U.S. travel demand, shorter booking windows, and broader discretionary-spending pressure across the travel sector. Investomine shares a similar view but emphasizes FY2025 operational momentum, margin expansion, Transformation Program savings, and aggressive capital returns as drivers of long-term value.
Booking Holdings Inc. is not on our list of the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 109 hedge fund portfolios held BKNG at the end of the fourth quarter which was 95 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of BKNG as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BKNG and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
Disclosure: None.
